Gregg Allman discography

Gregg Allman performing at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, April 13, 2013 in New York. The Gregg Allman Band performs Wednesday, January 8, 2014, at the Sailor Circus Arena in Sarasota. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Gregg Allman discography

While Gregg Allman will always be most famous for his role as lead singer, songwriter, keyboardist and guitarist of the Allman Brothers Band, he has also maintained an impressive solo career for the past four decades. Here’s a look at his seven solo albums. The Gregg Allman Band performs Wednesday, January 8, at the Sailor Circus Arena in Sarasota. The show is sold out. Read my interview with Allman.

1973

“Laid Back”

A masterpiece melding soul, folk, vintage R&B and gospel, the album features the hit reworking of Allman’s “Midnight Rider” as well as the outstanding new original “Queen of Hearts” and the definitive version of pal Jackson Browne’s “These Days.”

1974

"The Gregg Allman Tour"

Frustratingly missing “Midnight Rider” but including two songs by opening act Cowboy, this is an otherwise excellent live double album featuring a gorgeous rendition of “Dreams,” a 10-minute version of the rollicking R&B standard “Turn on Your Love Light” and Allman’s heartbreaking ballad “Oncoming Traffic.”

1977

“Playin’ Up a Storm”

A little slicker than “Laid Back” and not quite as emotionally potent, it’s a great album all the same containing the funky Dr. John collaboration “Let This Be a Lesson to Ya’” as well as the poignant, slow-burning Allman originals “Bring it on Back” and “One More Try.”

1986

“I’m No Angel”

Gregg Allman’s big comeback album is buoyed by the hit title-track and features his Sarasota-Bradenton band of Dan Toler (guitar, co-writer), Bruce Waibel (bass), David “Frankie” Toler (drums), Tim Heding (keyboards) and Chaz Trippy (percussion). The disc, a fun listen despite sounding dated, also produced the lesser hits “Anything Goes” and “Can’t Keep Running.”

1988

“Just Before the Bullets Fly”

Although not as commercially successful as its predecessor, this album featuring basically the same local cast actually holds up better with the Allman/Toler/Toler original “Demons,” the Warren Haynes-penned title-track and Allman’s soulful cover of the Clarence Carter hit “Slip Away.”

1997

“Searching for Simplicity”

While lacking any significant new Allman originals, the album contains an interesting reworking of his Allman Brothers anthem “Whipping Post” goosed by great slide guitar work by Jack Pearson. Disc also includes a beautifully sung “The Dark End of the Street” and a blues-rock cover of John Hiatt’s bouncy “Memphis in the Meantime.”

2011

“Low Country Blues”

Super producer T-Bone Burnett smartly surrounds the singer with a crew of first-rate players and a bundle of classic blues songs - plus the memorable new Allman original “Just Another Rider,” co-written with Haynes - resulting in Gregg Allman’s best solo album since the 1970s.